hawkeye18
Sorta cares
Ok folks, my left rear window had stopped working a long time ago, and today I decided to troubleshoot it.
The motor was getting 12V with either set of switches activated so that wasn't it. The motor was toast.
...or was it?
See, most rear window motors don't go bad... they just get gummed up from the grease hardening (mostly from disuse), and the load becomes higher than the torque the motor can provide. If you get new grease in there and clean all the gunk out...
I had ordered what was supposed to be a front passenger motor (which will work), but I got a *rear* passenger motor instead, so I figured I could probably rebuild it with the one I had. Turns out I didn't need any parts from it at all.
Parts required:
8mm socket
#2 phillips screwdriver (#1 will probably work too)
1/8" straighthead screwdriver (it needs to be small) or equivalent to scrape old gunk
c-clip pliers or two pointy things (picks work) to get the snap ring off the motor
latex gloves (to apply grease with)
door trim puller (looks like a pickle fork thingy) (optional)
tub o' grease. I used this, but in the 1 pound tub variety. Expensive, yes. Will it work forever? Yes.
First, you have to remove the door trim; start by taking three phillips screws out, one from the door handle (you might not have to remove it, but I did anyway), one from inside the handle, and one inside the ashtray thingy. You have to open it first.
Then, remove the ashtray assembly, pull on the right side.
Now, you pull the door off. You pretty much just yank on a corner and work your way around. Make sure you feed the window switch assembly through the hole so you don't rip stuff. If you want, you can use the door trim puller to pull the black thingies with. You will probably break a mounting point or two; it's just a matter of the age of the plastic(I broke like 5 cos it's cold
). Congrats if you don't!
Remove the "water shield"... you only need to remove the right side of it - start at the bottom right corner (this is for LR, you can figure it out for the other side). You should be able to see the motor assembly now.
You don't need to drill any rivets or anything for the rear windows - thank God! But you have to remove three 8mm bolts - they're pretty long, so keep going. Make sure you disconnect the motor first - should be pretty obvious. (I didn't cos I'm a rebel)
Now the motor should come out; yank kind of down towards the ground and towards you at the same time. You might have to wiggle a bit. If there's rusty grease or dried up grease it won't want to let go.
The first thing you need to do with the motor once you have it in your hands is clean it! Get all that old crap off of it. This is where the straighthead comes in handy - I used a big one to get most of the gunk off. Then, use whatever cleaner you like (I used MAF cleaner since that's what I had handy), keeping in mind that there is a rubber seal behind the gear.
There is a small snap ring that must come off the shaft. I used two circuit probes to get it off cos they have pointy ends but whatever you have will work - it's nothing like the AC compressor snap rings, that's for sure!
Notice the small washer under the snap ring. I don't think it'd be catastrophic if you lost it, but you don't want to lose it anyway. I had a wheel that attaches to a drill... the shaft of that (1/4", I wanna say) fit perfectly so I just put the snapring and washer on that.
Now you can pull the gear plate off. It should slide right off but heavy gunk may bind it up, so use a flathead if necessary. (icky!)
Clean, clean, clean!
Next are three parts that need to come out: two endplates and a long spring. The top endplate should come right off, but the spring is gonna take some work. Get that tiny little flathead under where it kinks at the top and just run the flathead under it around the circumference. You have to take this spring out one coil at a time. It takes a while. Keep going. Keep going. There! You finally got the bottom of the spring out. Now, you can prise the bottom endplate out.
You will notice that the spring has a kink at each end that fits just perfectly into the notch in each endplate. When you reinstall it, these kinks need to be on either side of one of the cams under the gear plate. If you cleaned it before you removed it, you can probably see what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter which cam (there are 2). Just pick one.
Now, clean it out again. There really needs to be no grease remaining on, or in it if you want it to last for any length of time.
Now, you can work on the electrical side of the motor. Remove the two looooong 8mm bolts and WHILE HOLDING IT VERTICALLY pull the black housing off. There are two parts to the housing; if the big foam block is still on it, the two parts won't seperate on their own.
***IMPORTANT!!*** There is a wee little ball at the very top of the rotor shaft. DO NOT LOSE THIS BALL. What I would recommend is, once you get the black housing off, turn the motor upside down so the ball plops into your hand. Then, stick it against the permanent magnet in the housing. It will not go anywhere.
Now you can see the rotor and windings. You will notice at the top of the housing (where the power wires go) the brushes. Make sure there is still life in them. If there is less than 1/4" of material in them, I would recommend replacing them if possible... I had plenty on mine so no worries.
Start turning the shaft clockwise like you're tightening it. The worm drive on the shaft is a reverse thread. Eventually (it might take a while), the shaft will come out. If it just keeps turning the gear, immobilize it with your hand or a screwdriver or whatever. You might have to use SUPER HULK STRENGTH! if it's really stuck in there.
***IMPORTANT!!*** There is another little ball at the BOTTOM of this shaft as well. These balls act as bearings for the shaft. Put this ball where you won't lose it (again, the magnet in the housing works very well). (sorry the pic is fuzzy!)
Once it's out, you can clean it off (ewww!). Make sure to spray liberally inside the shaft housing with cleaner. Make sure there is no old grease left on it.
The motor was getting 12V with either set of switches activated so that wasn't it. The motor was toast.
...or was it?
See, most rear window motors don't go bad... they just get gummed up from the grease hardening (mostly from disuse), and the load becomes higher than the torque the motor can provide. If you get new grease in there and clean all the gunk out...
I had ordered what was supposed to be a front passenger motor (which will work), but I got a *rear* passenger motor instead, so I figured I could probably rebuild it with the one I had. Turns out I didn't need any parts from it at all.
Parts required:
8mm socket
#2 phillips screwdriver (#1 will probably work too)
1/8" straighthead screwdriver (it needs to be small) or equivalent to scrape old gunk
c-clip pliers or two pointy things (picks work) to get the snap ring off the motor
latex gloves (to apply grease with)
door trim puller (looks like a pickle fork thingy) (optional)
tub o' grease. I used this, but in the 1 pound tub variety. Expensive, yes. Will it work forever? Yes.
First, you have to remove the door trim; start by taking three phillips screws out, one from the door handle (you might not have to remove it, but I did anyway), one from inside the handle, and one inside the ashtray thingy. You have to open it first.
Then, remove the ashtray assembly, pull on the right side.
Now, you pull the door off. You pretty much just yank on a corner and work your way around. Make sure you feed the window switch assembly through the hole so you don't rip stuff. If you want, you can use the door trim puller to pull the black thingies with. You will probably break a mounting point or two; it's just a matter of the age of the plastic(I broke like 5 cos it's cold
). Congrats if you don't!Remove the "water shield"... you only need to remove the right side of it - start at the bottom right corner (this is for LR, you can figure it out for the other side). You should be able to see the motor assembly now.
You don't need to drill any rivets or anything for the rear windows - thank God! But you have to remove three 8mm bolts - they're pretty long, so keep going. Make sure you disconnect the motor first - should be pretty obvious. (I didn't cos I'm a rebel)
Now the motor should come out; yank kind of down towards the ground and towards you at the same time. You might have to wiggle a bit. If there's rusty grease or dried up grease it won't want to let go.
The first thing you need to do with the motor once you have it in your hands is clean it! Get all that old crap off of it. This is where the straighthead comes in handy - I used a big one to get most of the gunk off. Then, use whatever cleaner you like (I used MAF cleaner since that's what I had handy), keeping in mind that there is a rubber seal behind the gear.
There is a small snap ring that must come off the shaft. I used two circuit probes to get it off cos they have pointy ends but whatever you have will work - it's nothing like the AC compressor snap rings, that's for sure!
Notice the small washer under the snap ring. I don't think it'd be catastrophic if you lost it, but you don't want to lose it anyway. I had a wheel that attaches to a drill... the shaft of that (1/4", I wanna say) fit perfectly so I just put the snapring and washer on that.
Now you can pull the gear plate off. It should slide right off but heavy gunk may bind it up, so use a flathead if necessary. (icky!)
Clean, clean, clean!
Next are three parts that need to come out: two endplates and a long spring. The top endplate should come right off, but the spring is gonna take some work. Get that tiny little flathead under where it kinks at the top and just run the flathead under it around the circumference. You have to take this spring out one coil at a time. It takes a while. Keep going. Keep going. There! You finally got the bottom of the spring out. Now, you can prise the bottom endplate out.
You will notice that the spring has a kink at each end that fits just perfectly into the notch in each endplate. When you reinstall it, these kinks need to be on either side of one of the cams under the gear plate. If you cleaned it before you removed it, you can probably see what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter which cam (there are 2). Just pick one.
Now, clean it out again. There really needs to be no grease remaining on, or in it if you want it to last for any length of time.
Now, you can work on the electrical side of the motor. Remove the two looooong 8mm bolts and WHILE HOLDING IT VERTICALLY pull the black housing off. There are two parts to the housing; if the big foam block is still on it, the two parts won't seperate on their own.
***IMPORTANT!!*** There is a wee little ball at the very top of the rotor shaft. DO NOT LOSE THIS BALL. What I would recommend is, once you get the black housing off, turn the motor upside down so the ball plops into your hand. Then, stick it against the permanent magnet in the housing. It will not go anywhere.
Now you can see the rotor and windings. You will notice at the top of the housing (where the power wires go) the brushes. Make sure there is still life in them. If there is less than 1/4" of material in them, I would recommend replacing them if possible... I had plenty on mine so no worries.
Start turning the shaft clockwise like you're tightening it. The worm drive on the shaft is a reverse thread. Eventually (it might take a while), the shaft will come out. If it just keeps turning the gear, immobilize it with your hand or a screwdriver or whatever. You might have to use SUPER HULK STRENGTH! if it's really stuck in there.
***IMPORTANT!!*** There is another little ball at the BOTTOM of this shaft as well. These balls act as bearings for the shaft. Put this ball where you won't lose it (again, the magnet in the housing works very well). (sorry the pic is fuzzy!)
Once it's out, you can clean it off (ewww!). Make sure to spray liberally inside the shaft housing with cleaner. Make sure there is no old grease left on it.
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